PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Architect Robert Venturi, who rejected austere modern design and instead ushered in postmodern complexity with the dictum “Less is a bore,” has died. He was 93.

His family released a statement on his firm’s website saying Venturi died at home in Philadelphia on Tuesday after a brief illness, surrounded by his wife and son.

He remained active well into his 80s at Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates, the architecture firm he founded in the 1960s. It’s now known as VSBA Architects + Planners.

The firm says in a statement: “All of us at VSBA are heartbroken. Viva Bob.”

His work celebrated complexity and even inconsistency in design. He encouraged architects and consumers to enjoy “messy vitality” in architecture — whether whimsical, sarcastic, humorous or honky-tonk.